Ofure Akhigbe
Intense violence continues to ravage Sudan following the fall of El Fasher, with new images from the city revealing widespread destruction and the United Nations warning on Monday about a worsening humanitarian crisis and the growing number of displaced people across the country.
Saudi Arabian state-owned television channel Al Arabiya aired footage over the weekend showing the aftermath of the battle in El Fasher. The video displayed bullet-ridden walls of buildings and a mosque within a military medical facility, marked with red tape to indicate the presence of landmines.
The medical facility, located near the headquarters of the 6th Army Division, was the site of intense fighting between the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) before the city fell to the RSF. Al Arabiya reported that the RSF had accused the Sudanese army of using the facility as a military base during the battle.
The seizure of El Fasher by the RSF and escalating violence in the Kordofan region have displaced thousands in recent days. According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), about 2,000 people were forced to flee from several towns and villages in the Bara area of North Kordofan Province between Friday and Sunday.
Both Darfur and Kordofan have become epicentres of the ongoing conflict between the Sudanese army and the RSF. Aid groups and UN officials say the RSF’s capture of El Fasher has left hundreds dead and driven tens of thousands to flee to overcrowded camps amid reports of atrocities committed by the paramilitary group.
The IOM further reported that nearly 92,000 people have fled El Fasher and surrounding villages since the city’s fall, underscoring the deepening humanitarian crisis in Sudan.